The classical DVD is coming of age. Next thing you know we
will have Bax symphonies in high definition … or even Havergal
Brian’s Gothic!

Here are Szymanowski’s two mature symphonies from experienced
elder statesman of the podium, Antoni Wit. For years these two
works were the only Szymanowski symphonies you could hear. Dorati
did record the Second in the 1970s but until then, apart perhaps
from the odd obscure Polski-Nagrania LP, it was only numbers
2 and 3 that we encountered.

The Warsaw Philharmonic Hall is a real beauty and this aspect
is intensified by the sky-aquamarine lighting that adds an even
tincture of firmanent blue to the pillars and the organ-pipes
behind the orchestra. I viewed this DVD after reviewing ICA’s
Elgar 2 Solti DVD. The transformation of video and audio is
remarkable. It has been superbly filmed by Polish TV. I listened
in LPCM stereo which conveys a sense of the grand size of the
hall.

In the Third Symphony Wit establishes the elusive Szymanowskian
spell immediately. He then holds it in a sweetly brooding thrall.
The choral voices are not too assertive; they merge and melt
into and out of the diaphanous orchestral fabric. The sweet-toned
solo violin of Leader Ewa Marczyk radiates a haze of heat. There
is a wealth of close-ups for example on the two harps yet sufficient
space is permitted for the broader stage-span as well. The orchestra
must know this work inside out and this shows in their confidence
with the sighing and smoothly instinctive sense of progress
and weighting. The balance of orchestra and voices reflects
equals and firsts and achieves a lovely spatial sense. Wit for
all his eminence communicates a full measure of rapturous vigour
and at 6:55 a real ecstatic-orgasmic climax is reached. However
the finer filigree is just as well treated – listen at 8:20
to the glint of the harp. The iridescent haze recalls the sumptuous
delights of Beckford’s Vathek – a work which might well
have appealed to Szymanowski as it certainly did to his longer-lived
Portuguese contemporary Luis de Freitas Branco who wrote an
impressionistic tone poem on the subject in 1913. The young
baritone Rafal Bartminski is a sympathetic singer and makes
his exalted effect while the eddying tendrils of the orchestra
sweep around him, glancing and embracing.

There are no subtitles and no printed words in the booklet.

The Fourth Symphony is part symphony and part piano concerto
– Sinfonia Concertante. The powerfully built young Broja
strides onto the stage sporting an unnaturally shiny blue-grey
shirt. Polish chivalry extends to his kissing the hand of the
Ewa Marczyk, the orchestra leader, before he launches the sing-song
melody that overarches the work. His sound is crystalline yet
not unduly pebbly or harsh. This is a romantic take on a work
sometimes projected as modernistic. In fact this approach is
a degree less exotic-ecstatic than the Third Symphony but the
lyrical strain remains strong. The cameras cut around the orchestra
and soloist and conductor from many angles. It’s not too busy
to be distracting and interest is held throughout.

The first movement boils to an exciting and heated end. The
middle movement with its otherworldly textures provides opportunities
embraced by Broja as from the hushed quiet the piano emerges
in a fine tracery. The lambent flute rises in assertive primacy.
The spell is well sustained and the flute reminisces with the
piano on the theme of the first movement. Broja and Wit’s orchestra
observe the delicate yet steely differentiations. There’s real
attention to rhythmic shaping and dynamic topography. The finale
rises to Petrushkan vehemence.

It would be great to hear these artists recorded in this hall
in the same composer’s Stabat Mater and Harnasie perhaps
with the early and exhilaratingly Straussian Concert Overture
thrown in to make a longer playing time than the present
disc. I hope that this happens.

The helpful insert notes are by Piotr Maculewicz.

Two great works of Szymanowski’s high maturity; one exotic in
the manner of King Roger; the other more in touch with
Polish folk voices.

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